Money well spent

I heard somewhere that the Nike 'Swoosh' logo was the most inexpensive logo ever produced for a global brand. I checked this out on the logoblog website which said the famous mark was originally called 'the strip' and was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971. It also confirmed that Davidson was paid the meager sum of $35 for the logo, that would just about buy you a pair of Nike trainers-if your lucky!
The Rolling Stones 'Lick' mark was also produced in the 1971, a good year for logo design. Coincidentally it was also a bargain, the designer John Pasche was paid just £50 for his excellent work. He was later paid an extra £250 to cover the logos use on merchandise but It probably should have been more like £250,000 since it now features on the t-shirts of students everywhere!

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A small update to this post-
The V&A museum has recently purchased the original Rolling Stones logo artwork from Pasche for £92,000- thats a bit more like it!

The evolution of a logo

I have read that a good logo should be;
1.describable
2.memorable
3.effective without colour
4.scalable- effective in any size
The logo for the shell oil company is definitely all of the above and is one of the most recognizable brand marks in the world. Its iconic status of logo is confirmed by the fact that it is often used alone without the 'Shell' name. Like many popular logos of today it wasn't always so refined, it has evolved along with the company which it represents. Interestingly, you can tell which era each version of the logo was designed. This is a reflection of the ever changing trends in Graphic design.
you can see the evolution of more logos at the bestad blog